Sheet-winding machine



B. J. G-UDG'E.`

SHEET WINDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION 'man nec. 31. 1.918.

1,431,946, Patented oet. 17,1922.

Mllliljllllllll lljlllllyllllllllllg l WiTNESSES: INVENTOR ffgm@ @mmf BY l ,fl r f ,l ATTRNEY- BENJAMIN J. GUDGE, OF TMILKINEEURC, FENNSYLVANIA, lASSIGNOR TO 'WES'IING- yHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMIPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- 'VAN IA.

SHEET-WINDING MACHINE.

Application iled December 31, 1918. Serial No. 269,095.

To all 'whom t may concern Be it known that I, BENJAMIN J. GUDGE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of lVilkinsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sheet-Winding Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to sheet-winding machines and it has for its primary object the provision of a machine to be employed for quickly and easily winding a sheet of any desired materialabout a small mandrel which may be subsequently removed.

In the electrical arts, composite rods of insulating material have been formed "by winding suitable sheet. material, impregnated with a desirable binder, about a small mandrel, or about a crimped edge of the sheet to provide a body or roll of superimposed layers. The mandrel, if any was employed, was then removed and the roll ywas cured, under pressure, to form a strong solid rod of insulating material. Among many suitable sheet materials which have been employed, paper has been found to be very satisfactory and, while various binders have been'utilized, a phenolic condensation product, such as the well known bakelite, has proved particularly wellsuited for the purpose.

When forming rods of impregnated sheet material of this character, it is very desirable that such impregnated material shall be wound as closely and compactly as possible and that the mandrel, if any be employed, shall be as small as possible, in order to decrease, to a maximum degree, the amount which the wound body of paper must be reduced in volume by compression, during curing, to insure the requisite density in the finished rod. Because of the small size of mandrels found necessary for this reason, .it has been customary, heretofore, to wind the sheet material about the mandrelsby hand, as no machine, previously known, was capable of accomplishing this work suitably. Hand winding is very slow' and tedious and it has been almost impossible to .obtain closely wound bodies or to insure uniformity, in the winding, such as will prevent crumplinO of the wound material in a mold. Y

@ne of the @beets 0f my Present inven` tion resides in providing a machine capable of winding paper or other suitable sheet material upon an extremely small mandrel 1n a rapid and elicient manner.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a machine of this character having a two-part mandrel between the parts of which one end ofthe sheet to be wound may be positioned so that the sheet will be held against slipping during the winding action, with the result that tension may be applied to the sheet to insure its being wound with any desired degree of closeness.

In this connection, a still further object of my invention consists in providing a driving mechanism comprising correspond ingly driven, alined chucks capable of detachably receiving the ends of the mandrel sections and of holding the mandrel sections in proper relative in place.

With these and other objects in view, my invention will be more fully described, illustrated in the drawings, in the several views of which corresponding numerals indicate like-parts, and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a front elevational view of my improved machine; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line II-II of Fig. l; Fig.' 3 is an elevation of one of the mandrel-receiving chucks, and Fig. 4 is an end view of the same chuck.

One embodiment of my invention, as shown in the drawings, includes a suitable support or table l carrying bearing brackets 2, which may preferably be disposed near opposite edges of the table and in which are journalled alined shaft sections 3 and el. That end of the shaft section 3 nearer the shaft section et comprises a pair of spaced, longitudinal recesses or sockets 5, as best shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The corresponding end of the shaft section 4 is formed with a radial slot 6 opening through itsside and end and a retaining sleeve 7 is mounted about the slotted end of the shaft section. This sleeve is held against longitudinal movement upon the shaft section by a pin 8 carried by the shaft and projecting through a slot 9 formed in the sleeve in 4Sllll a manner aS to permit partially turning positions when they aref oi the sleeve with respect to the shailt. The sleeve is formed with a longitudinal slot 1l) adapted, in one position, to aline with the radial slot (3 ot the sha'tt section.

The ends o'tf the shait seetions, when litted in this manner, constitute, in eli'ect, opposed chucks capable olf detachably receiriuscg' a Winding` mandrel 11. This mandrel, as best shown in Figs. l, 3 and el., coi'nprises a pair oi relatively small rods or wires l2 which are preferably resilient and may be desirably formed ot steel, or etpiivalent material, in order that they may possess maximum strength, relative .to their small diameters.

1n practice, the rods or wires l2 are insorted, at one end, in the recesses or sockets 5 et' one chuckand their opposite ends are slipped through the slot l() olE the sleeve T and into the radial slot 6 ot the other chuck after which thevsleeve partially turned to lock them against displacement.

As a means llier rotating' the chucks and the mandrel carried by them, may proyide any suitable sourceoi power, such as anelectric motor 13. Upon the shaft of this motor may be mounted a `pulley 14;, and belt 15 may be passed about this pulley and about a pulley 16 carried by one or the alined shaft section, as, for example, the shaft sec tions 3. Gear Wheels `17 may be fixed to lthe shaft sections and may mesh with pinions 1S fixed upon a shaft 19 which may preferably be journaled in `bearing-ln'ackets 2O secured to the `under side oi" the table 1. Obviously, with this arrangement, the two chucks Will be simultaneous] j driven.v in the same direction `and at the sa ne speed.

' As it is desirable to be able to stop the turning' ot-the chucks and` mandrel at trequent intervals, 1 'preferably make the belt 15 loose so that it will not normally transmit power 'from the motor to the shaft seetion 3 and provide a belt tightener which l may be operated in any suitable manner to tighten the belt and cause transmission ot power trom time to time, as may be desired. Any suitable type of tightener may be employed, one being clearly shown in Fie'. Q as comprising;` an idler pulley 91emgaginojthe belt and carried at one end ot a lever 92 which is invoted. between its ends, upon a ljnacket 2?. il. cord Q14-, or other" flexible connection may be secured. at one cud. to the tree end oi the lever 22 and. its opposite end, to a pivoted treadle 25.locat d at any convenient point`v the cord being` pre-ferably passed over suitably located guide pulleys From `the foregoing,` description. the methodoi employingr my machine and the lmanner in which it operates will. be readily understood and vonly a slight explanation is` therefore, necessary. Preferably, astack of' the sheets ,te be `veonncl is placed upon the table at the rear of the mandrel. The operator may then pass the nearer end of the uppermost sheet between the mandrel sections or rods 12, and start the machine by pressing the treadle to operate the belt tightener. Under these circumstances, the mandrel will be rapidly turned and, as a result, the sheet will be wound about it. The operator may readily govern the tightness with which the sheet will be Wound by grasping the mandrel and the sheet being Wound thereon Vwith more or less closeness during the winding operation.

After the sheet has b'eenivound,the sleeve 7 may be turned topermitdisengagement oi the adjacentend of the mandrel which, in turn, will permit disengagement of its opposite end. The mandrel may then be removed and its sections may be Withdrawn from the Wound roll in any'suitab'le manner, such as by engaging' the ends of the sections in a vise or clamp of suitable construction. The mandrel sections may then `be again engaged bet-Ween the chucks and the operation above described may be repeated.`

Preferably, I provide a multiplicity of interchangeable mandrel sections in order that the operator need not pause between the Windingoi successive sheets to withdraw the mandrel. sections. Also,` in order to facilitate the rapidity of operation, suitable spring' clips or similar devices may be proridedivhich may be engaged about the rolls as they are finished to hold. the sheet against umrindinp; until the mandrelsectio-ns have been remoifed andthe roll has been placed in a mold for iinal treatment..

, From actual employment oif such a machine` l have found that it is possible to greatly `decrease the time required in the manufacture of rods of this character and, consequently, to decrease the cost of their manufacture. Furthermore, operators, not as hiajhly skilled as those previously re? quired. may do efficient and rapid work by employing my machine and may secure much more uniform results than were possible, even by the more skilled operators, When the rolls were formed by hand. y

Obviously, numerous modifications and changes may bel made in the machine to suit various circumstances and conditions. For example. it semicylindrical mandrel sections are employedpthe machine may be utilized to wind sheet material into tubes and. upon removal. of the mandrel sections, a solid mandrel of cylindrical or other desired shape may be inserted in the Wound tube to support it While it is molded. Pie-` including a pair of separately removable and chucks, and a mandrel detachably received,v

by the chucks and comprising spaced sub stantially parallel and separable sections.

4L. A sheet-Winding machine comprising a pair of revolvably mounted chucks, a Inandrel detachably engageable by the chucks, a driven shaft, pulleys upon the driven shaft and one of the chucks, a loose belt passed about thepulleys, manual means for tighten ing the belt and thus driving said shaft, and means for transmitting power from the first chuck to the other.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 17th day of Dec. 1918.

BENJ. J. GUDGE. 

